Paul Durant leans down to pick a small, purple pinot noir grape off a vine, and he pops it into his mouth.

“Yeah, these will need to be harvested soon.”

Durant owns Red Ridge Farms in the Dundee Hills. The vineyard is known for its fine wines and pastoral visitor center with beehives, lavender fields and olive groves. Durant thinks the company is doing OK, considering the 2025 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Census.

“We’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Durant said.

Last year, Oregon’s wine grape production decreased 25%. Grapes are being left to rot on the vine and whole vineyards have been plowed under. In total, 110 vineyards and wineries closed in Oregon last year.

And while it hasn’t been as badly hit, Oregon’s beer industry is dealing with the same issues.

Several issues facing the wine industry

“The last big downturn was in 2008 with the Great Recession,” Durant said. “But you could kind of put your finger on why.”

This time, the wine industry’s slump comes from a perfect storm of various unrelated issues.

One problem is clear. Canadian liquor boards pulled U.S. wines off their shelves in response to U.S. tariffs that went into effect last year. The export of Oregon wines to Canada dropped by an eye-popping 83%.

Other issues have been building for years. For example, younger people are simply drinking less alcohol. Many prefer non-alcoholic drinks instead.

There are also well-established alternatives to alcohol now, like cannabis.

“I have seen statistics where there’s more daily cannabis users than there are daily alcohol consumers,” Durant said.

Apart from changing tastes, Oregon also has a significant oversupply of grapes. At the turn of the millennium, the state had 480 vineyards, according to Oregon State University. There are more than twice as many now, and people just aren’t drinking enough wine to consume all those grapes.

Oregon’s wine industry is also facing the same problems as other businesses, like increased fuel, electricity and water prices.

Another blow came from the World Health Organization. It publicly announced in 2023 what many health professionals had known for years: that alcohol is “a toxic, psychoactive substance.”

Gone are the days when a drink a day was considered beneficial. That idea originated from studies of people who enjoyed red wine. But scientists later found such studies didn’t take into account that some moderate drinkers had higher incomes, better diets and healthier lifestyles.

The arrival of GLP -1 weight loss drugs, like Ozempic, is another reason people cite for lower wine consumption.

“I’ve had wine club members who are like, ‘Hey, I’m on these GLP-1s and I just don’t have the appetite for drinking wine anymore,’” Durant said.

Also, someone who’s inspired by their weight loss is unlikely to want to jeopardize that loss by drinking alcohol.

How are vineyards reacting?

With all these headwinds, Durant believes Oregon’s wine industry is in the middle of a market correction. But there are things vineyards are doing to keep moving ahead.

“We are starting a process to look at a pinot noir and a chardonnay-based seltzer,” said Durant. “So, it wouldn’t go through fermentation. It would just be a kind of fizzy grape juice.”

He is working with Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center on the idea. He’s also trying new export locations, like Brazil.

“It’s a growing economy,” he said. “And they apparently like Oregon pinot noir.”

Durant has sent his wine to an importer who is distributing it in markets like São Paulo. He hasn’t spent any money on advertising yet, but said maybe he will in the future.

Durant says winemakers must work harder to reach their consumers than they used to. He said it’s no longer enough to simply have a tasting room in the Willamette Valley.

“They’re on the road,” said Durant. “They’re at the Rose Festival. They’re pulling a cart behind a van.”

What will Durant do with this year’s harvest?

This year Red Ridge Farms expects a healthy harvest of about 350 tons of grapes. They’ll use 80 tons for their own wine. The rest Durant expects to sell to customers who’ve been buying his grapes for years.

He trusts those long-term relationships will hold because he’ll extend better lending terms if necessary. Also, buyers have based their tastes and brands around Durant grapes.

Still, he is dialing down grape production from 4 tons to maybe 3 tons per acre, a process that’s achieved by trimming vines in the winter.

By limiting the number of buds each vine has, a wine producer can control both the quantity and quality of the harvest.

“Instead of [the plant] putting out 10 buds on each side of the vine, you’ll cut that down to eight or seven,” Durant explained.

Oregon’s beer industry facing similar problems

Some of the issues facing Oregon’s wine industry, like cannabis use, GLP-1s and fewer young people drinking, are also affecting Oregon’s beer industry. The national Brewers Association says craft beer production declined more than 5% last year.

Oregon has seen some prominent beer brands collapse, like Rogue Ales, Upright Brewery and Culmination Brewing. But Lisa Allen, the president of the Oregon Brewers Guild, says Oregonians continue to love their beer.

“We’re not seeing the huge drop-off that you see nationwide. So, Oregon is doing OK.”

At the Heater Allen brewery in McMinnville, staff have organized craft nights, live music, and board game, trivia and speed puzzling events, all to attract customers who aren’t necessarily there for the alcohol.

“A lot of breweries are not just selling beer,” Allen said. “They’re selling non-alcoholic options, kombucha and hop waters.”

When breweries and vineyards close, she says, people get upset. But if you ask those same people when they last visited, it tends to be a long time ago.

“If you want these places to remain part of your community,” Allen said, “then you need to actually go.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/06/oregon-wine-beer-sales-drop-grape-harvest/